A Bolt from the Blue
by trek-grrrl
Summary: Challenge fic. A day in the desert for suit practice turns very, very weird for the Team with the Suit. One shot.


"A Bolt from the Blue" 

(Author's Note: Well, this is an answer to a challenge on the GAH boards... here're the rules:

1. Ralph and someone have to switch bodies. "How" can be anything...

2. It needs to include a scenario where someone finds out that Ralph and the other person are not themselves.

3. It has to happen on a holiday... real or odd one.

How to keep track of who's switched with whom? "Quotes" will be the physical body of the character, but the psyche/personality of the other person will be within. And I ain't spoiling who's in whom. Heh.

My apologies to the BttF fans; I know it premiered in 1985, but I'm not sure when...let's just assume the movie's been out when this story occurs.)

From the Journal of William Maxwell

April 2, 1985

It never rains but it pours, so they say. And brother, did it ever pour yesterday, on April Fool's Day, of all days.

It not only poured out of the sky, but the day took a very very weird turn after this freak thunderstorm. The kid, the Counselor and I were out in the desert doing suit practice for a change...

"C'mon, Ralph, CONCENTRATE!" Bill Maxwell yelled at his best friend and partner, Ralph Hinkley. "I can't imagine the green guys would make a power like the mind push that REQUIRES you be physically in contact with plutonium. I mean, that may happen a lot on VULCAN or something, but why put in a suit power if it's not something you can use? Now THINK, kid!"

"I AM, Bill, shut UP!" Ralph growled, focusing on Pam Hinkley, his wife. He was trying his damnedest to get her to get up, go to the open trunk of the car, and take out a sandwich and coke for him. So far, she was being most unresponsive and uncooperative.

Pam sat on the cooled hood of Bill's Dodge Diplomat, relaxed and smirking, not expecting in the least that her husband would be successful in getting her to do his will, no matter what it was.

When she rolled her eyes in boredom after the first few minutes, Ralph stood straight, his concentration broken.

"Pamela, come on, at least PRETEND you're interested!" he cried, shrugging his shoulders. He'd been so focused that he was tensing. He knew that wouldn't be good, if consciously summoning the mind push was anything like telekinesis. He knew when using telekinesis, he had to empty his mind, so he thought the same thing would work if Pam did the same.

"Do like I do when I'm doing telekinesis, Pam. Empty your mind. Think of a blank, white piece of paper."

"Okay, okay, I'll try, Ralph," she conceded, seeing he was really making an effort. She didn't want to give Bill any excuse to gripe at her for not being a part of the team, after all.

A grumble of thunder answered her, and all three looked to the southwest. They'd been so busy thinking about activating the very powerful and elusive mind push, that none of them had noticed a swift desert storm blowing in.

"Ut oh," Bill opined. "Wonder how long THAT'S been brewing!"

The sun was shining overhead, and the sky in their immediate vicinity was quite vividly blue, so they weren't too concerned. Bill paused, staring at the black cloud, and a bolt of lightning struck off in the distance.

He held his breath, counting slowly till he heard the thunder, and said, "It's still at least five miles away, Ralph. Plenty of time to see if your idea for Pam works. C'mon, give it a go, let's do this and get the heck outta here."

Pam, who'd grown up in the Midwest, wasn't worried. She was adept at knowing at what point a storm became dangerous, and knew they had at least another fifteen minutes.

"Mind's a blank... white paper, white unlined paper..." she intoned, her eyes closed, her mind empty.

Nobody spoke, and it seemed as if nobody was breathing... the only sound was the occasional rumble of thunder. It wasn't even to the crash-boom-bang stage yet, so the three of them weren't thinking too much about it.

Pam remained perched on the hood, her spine straight. She crossed her legs in a pseudo-lotus pose, and held her thumbs and forefingers together over her knees, a beatific smile on her lovely face.

"Very funny, Pam!" Ralph said, his concentration again broken.

Pam laughed, and slid off the car. She went to her husband, and took his hand, pulling him in for a quick kiss.

"Ralph, I'm sorry, but I'm really not feeling a thing. At least of the mind push. I felt SOMEthing, but it's hard to describe."

"You felt something?" Bill exclaimed, running up to them. "What was it, Counselor?"

She frowned as she tried to put the sensations into words. "A tingling. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end for a second."

"It DID?" Ralph said, grinning. "That's great, that's what I was thinking about!"

"It was??" the other two exclaimed.

"YES!" Ralph couldn't contain his excitement. "Here, let me try something else..."

He kept her hand in his own, and looked into her deep gray eyes. Bill was standing near them both, leaning in, staring at Ralph staring at Pam. He wanted to catch every nuance, to see what it was Ralph was doing, so it could be repeated at another time.

"This could be one for the ol' library, Ralph, go for it, kid!" he said quietly, not wishing to break the spell.

Pam felt a shudder go up her spine, and quivered, not releasing Ralph's hand. "Look!" she said, motioning at her arm. The little hairs were waving in a non-existent wind.

"Your hair's standing on end?" Ralph asked. "Like the hair on the back of your neck did?"

"Ralph, I must be gettin' the residual, 'cause the hairs on my arms are too," Bill said, holding his hairier arm out.

Ralph took Bill's hand, to pull the arm closer for inspection.

"Oh, God -- " Pam started, when she realized what was happening. "Ralph, it's not YOU, it's -- "

And the world exploded around them in an actinic flash of light, as a bolt from the blue struck within feet of them.

From the Journal of William Maxwell

April 2, 1985 (continued)

We couldn't know it at the time, but what hit us was a stray bolt of lightning, maybe called TO us by what Ralph was doing, maybe by the iron-rich meteor that was buried under us, about six feet. Ralph, being the egghead, thinks that's what attracted the lightning bolt, even though the cloud was miles away from us.

Pam, being a Midwest girl, figured out too late what was causing the hairs on our arms to stand on end... and it didn't affect Ralph, because he had the suit protecting him. Mostly. Even the green guys' technology didn't protect him completely, as we soon learned. As I soon learned, that is. Be careful what you ask for, you might get it... or as the Chinese curse goes, May you live in interesting times.

Boy, was it an interesting time yesterday. Yep, it finally happened, I got my wish... I got the suit.

To an outside observer, it would appear there were three dead bodies on the desert ground that April Fool's Day, 1985. Maxwell and the two Hinkleys lay in fleshly heaps for at least ten minutes, as the storm got closer and closer, the sky darkening, blanking out the hot California sun.

The first blats of rain hit them, and they roused, groaning and moaning as their muscles complained against the brains commanding them to MOVE, get into the car, get to safety!

Another brilliant flash of lightning, too close for comfort, startled "Ralph."

"C'mon, boys and girls, we've got to get in the car," "Ralph" said, groaning, stumbling in his attempt to gain a vertical position.

Who said that? Bill wondered.

For some reason, his legs and feet felt totally wrong, too short, his clothes felt wrong... his BODY felt wrong!

He staggered as he tried to stand, and finally managed to get upright. He closed his eyes, swaying back and forth.

"Ralph, Pam," "Ralph" said. "C'mon, kids, get up..."

What the hell?

He opened his eyes to answer Ralph, who kept saying what he was thinking. His eyes were wide when he looked down at the two lying on the ground, when the shock hit him...

He was looking at HIMSELF on the ground? With Pam's head close to his own?

"Ralph" shook his head, trying to clear it and the blurry vision.

My mind's playing tricks on me, Bill thought.

He reached a hand out, to help Pam up when she struggled to gain her feet, and he stopped in shock, seeing a long, slender red-sleeved arm.

"What?" "Ralph" exclaimed, looking down at himself. Bill saw the red suit on himself. As if of their own volition, his hands, which simply seemed WRONG, reached up to his head to cradle it, and hope to shake the cobwebs loose from the near-fatal lightning strike... and he stopped, feeling thick curls.

"Oh, God," he moaned, closing his eyes, willing to himself that this was all a very, very bad dream, brought on by Ralph's suit and his feeble attempt at activating the mind push.

That's it, Ralph did something with the suit, just as the lightning hit.

"Ralph" said, "Pam, c'mon, sweetheart, let me help you up."

A touch from "Ralph" made "Pam" look up, and the gray eyes went wide; her expression was blank with shock.

"What--" "Pam" started, not reaching up, simply staring.

Ralph saw himself standing OVER himself?

"What-- what's happening, am I having an out-of-body experience?" "Pam" muttered, the voice quavering.

"Naw, you're still among the living," he heard his own voice reply. "C'mon, get up, Counselor."

"Pam" turned and looked at the body on the ground nearby, moaning and still making an unsuccessful effort to stand.

"Bill?" "Pam" inquired. Ralph was almost afraid to ask, but... "Bill? You okay, partner?"

"I'm fine," came the reply from... himself? Ralph?

A hand reaching up made "Ralph" turn and focus on the body of Bill Maxwell.

"Oh my God, I knew it..." "Bill" started, and a gasp ended whatever was going to follow that declaration.

"Bill?" "Pam" inquired, putting a hand on the older man's shoulder.

"Pam?" "Ralph" answered, looking between the two on the ground.

"Who-- ?" "Bill" said, looking at "Pam."

Bill looked at his red-sleeved arms again, and smoothed the tunic down, brushing the sand off the suit pants.

"Kids, I don't think we're in Kansas any more," "Ralph" said. He looked around as the rain began to fall with more enthusiasm. Yet another bolt of lightning hit nearby.

"Boys and girls, we need to get the heck outta Dodge and INTO the Dodge," he said, reaching down for the hand of his partner's wife, and -- this was the especially strange part -- grasping his own hand.

"The suit... lightning... we'll sort this out in the CAR, come ON!"

Pam automatically gave in to the warm, firm grasp of her husband's hand in her own, and climbed up... and up... and looked at Ralph, or rather, DOWN at Ralph!

"Ralph?" "Bill" asked.

"Naw, not 'Ralph,' it's 'Bill.'" he said, seemingly to himself.

A resilient mind was always one of his strong suits; he'd sort it all out later, probably in a bottle as he'd done when his dead partner John had been talking to him... but that was to deal with later. That tingling sensation in his arms was returning, building, and he knew they only had seconds before another bolt would hit too near them.

Without thought, Bill took the hands of both, and literally dragged them to the car, their attempts at finding their balance keeping them at least partly upright.

"Whoa!" "Ralph" exclaimed.

Bill hadn't consciously thought about being in the suit, and was glad he hadn't injured either Pam's body or his own... he still hadn't figured out who was where, except that he was in Ralph's body and, amazingly enough, still able to operate the suit.

He practically threw them into the back seat of the car, then held his arms over his head as the lightning bolt hit where they'd both lain seconds before. He felt the shock, but for some reason it was as a tickle, not the thousands of volts he knew was moving through him. He knew the tires of his car would insulate the bodies of himself and Pam, so stood still for a moment till the residual blast was gone.

The accompanying thunder was deafening, and he clenched his hands over his ears. The suit did a lot, but it couldn't protect him from the blast of sound. His ears rang for a few seconds, then it was quiet again. At least for the moment.

"Ralph" jumped into the front seat, and realized... no key.

Blank, Bill... he thought. Mind's a blank, white sheet of paper, blank... Car... start...

He pictured the solenoid of the starter kicking over, and the spark plugs sparking... and the Dodge's engine started humming. He hit the gas, and they tore out of there, away from this storm, toward somewhere quiet where they could hopefully work this very strange day out.

From the Journal of William Maxwell

April 2, 1985 (Continued)

Funny how fright and desperation can make someone learn something REAL fast. Luckily for us all, I'd holographed with Ralph enough to get the gist of how to do some things. Listening to Marshall Dunn tell Ralph how to use telekinesis sure helped too.

I no sooner pictured what the car engine had to do, and it did it, and we were gone.

One of the main problems those first few minutes was mastering the simple act of reaching for something. I kept having to stretch FARTHER when I thought I should get it... the gear shift, the radio dial. I thought maybe the green guys would be there, to help us along... but no such luck.

The weirdest bit in all this was looking at "me" and Pam in the back seat. The look on my face! But I'm getting ahead of "myself" here.

"Bill" and "Pam" remained quiet, both staring out their respective windows of the Dodge, as "Ralph" drove them back to L.A. and, gratefully, the Hinkley household.

"All right, kids, we need to have a skull session," "Ralph" said, guiding them out of the car.

Oh, God, I'm in the suit, Bill couldn't help marveling. And I'm out in the open, at Ralph's house.

He concentrated, felt an unsusual sensation move through him... and disappeared.

"Whoa!" "Pam" exclaimed.

None of the three really knew who was in who's body.

"Ralph" appeared behind the other two after they went inside.

"Okay, who's who? We need a roll call here. Who's in my body?"

"Pam," came the subdued reply.

"WHAT?" the other two exclaimed.

"So that'd make you..." "Ralph" started, pointing at "Pam."

"Yep, it's me, Ralph."

"What the hell did you DO, Ralph?" the younger partner's own voice demanded, but with the inflection and tone Maxwell would've used.

"NOTHING!... Bill?"

"Yes, yes, it's me already. In the suit."

"Finally got it, eh, partner?"

"Funny... oh man, this is too weird, talking to PAM and knowing RALPH is in there!"

Bill turned to look at his own face. The expression was blank, but the eyes revealed the fright Pam was experiencing within.

"I..." "Bill" started.

"Shhh, Counselor, it's not so bad in there, is it?"

"Ha, speak for yourself. At least you're in the same gender's body. This is too weird."

"At least I don't have a creepy girlie voice coming through, like when Sheila was in there," "Ralph" pointed out.

"Hmmmm," was all "Bill" could say.

None of them spoke for a few moments, when "Pam" spoke up.

"You know what we have to do, don't you? We need to go back there."

"BACK?" the other two asked.

"Yes... we need to recreate what happened."

"What? Get hit by lightning?" "Ralph" asked.

"Yes, it's easy, like in 'Back to the Future.' It took a bolt of lightning to do it, it's going to take a bolt to knock us back into ourselves."

"Bill" and "Ralph" looked at one another. "He's lost it," one told the other, getting a nod of agreement.

"Look," "Pam" started. "I know the suit. Mostly. I think we should do this, see why it happened in that one spot. Then see where we can get lightning to hit us again."

"And how do you propose we do that?" "Ralph" asked.

"Well, Bill, it's something YOU'RE going to have to learn to do consciously, something I never managed to do. You're going to have to learn to activate precognition, so we KNOW where lightning's going to strike next. They had the clock tower in the movie. We need to find our 'clock tower,' or else we'll be switched around like this forever."

"Oh, God," "Ralph" and "Bill" moaned, reluctantly nodding their heads, because they knew "Pam" was right.

From the Journal of William Maxwell

April 2, 1985

I've got to hand it to the kid, even though we were all freaking out over this body-switching, he came through, egghead that he is, and figured that there had to be something special about that spot we were in when the lightning hit. We'd been having suit practice there for years, and never knew what lay beneath the sand under our feet...

He had me, being in the suit, dig down, down, down, and sure enough, we found it: this strange rock, that had to have been a meteor. How long it had been there is anyone's guess; maybe millions of years, who knows?

We went back there soon after we got to the Hinkley house, knowing that the storm would've blown over by then.

By the time the three returned to the desert, it was mid-afternoon, and showed no signs of cooling down that hot April day. Evidence of the storm's passing was already vanishing as the rain evaporated away, and the desert sand was drying out.

"Ralph" walked around the immediate area, tracking where the Dodge had been parked before, and calculating the spot where they'd fallen from the lightning strike.

"It was right here," "Ralph" said, pointing down at the disturbed sand. The rain had flattened it somewhat, but his expert eye could tell that it didn't look like the surrounding ground.

The three stood over the little patch of ground, staring down as if they were waiting for something to happen, or another bolt from the blue to strike them.

"Well? What do we do now?" "Bill" asked, looking at the other two.

"There's got to be something unusual about this one spot," "Pam" said. "Pam, you grew up in the Midwest. Did you ever notice any rhyme or reason of where lightning would strike?"

"I know it seeks the path of least resistance, to the ground... but there's nothing here that'd do that, is there? Nothing tall, like a tree, building or cactus. Just a patch of sand."

Bill stared at the ground, and a sensation of an impending holograph moved through him. Thankfully, that was one suit power he'd personally experienced, so he went with it, and said, "I'm getting something, kids."

"Pam" reached a hand out so he could share in the holograph, and Ralph wanted to shudder inside, touching his own shoulder.

When it was obvious from his own facial expression that the holograph was in effect, and his best friend was seeing something, "Pam" frowned.

"What?" asked "Bill."

"I'm not getting anything! Bill, are you sure you're holographing?"

"'Course I'm sure, it's strange, looking down into the sand, layer upon layer," he said, sounding distracted as he took in the images.

"Maybe it's not the personality of Bill that shares in it, Ralph, but his body?" "Bill" surmised. A hand touched Ralph's shoulder, and "Bill" gasped when the images flowed.

"Oh, man," "Pam" moaned. "That's not fair, for a change YOU TWO get the holograph, and I'm left in the dark? I want to see what's down there too!"

The two picking up the holograph ignored him, focusing on what they were seeing. About six feet down, they saw the rough, uneven shape of a dark, smooth but rounded rock. The vision stopped there, as if unable to penetrate the ground any further.

"That's got to be it, Bill!" came his own voice.

"Yeah, yeah, Pam," "Ralph" said. "Let me dig down there, and we can see what it is. You two, move back."

His two younger friends complied, and "Ralph" got on his knees, and began to furiously dig down, faster and faster, flinging sand everywhere. It didn't take long, and he reached into the sand the rest of the way, the suit-enhanced strength letting his fingertips burrow into the sand and heft the rock out.

"Ralph" jumped out of the hole he'd dug, and put the rock on the ground so all three could examine it.

"Hmmmm," "Pam" said, kneeling down by it. Tracing the smoothe curves of the rock, "Pam" looked up at the other two, who were waiting for the teacherly lecture on what it could be. "A meteorite, Bill! That's what did it! It's well-known that they're often rich in iron. Maybe even some other elements we don't even know about! The lightning may've homed in on it, and my trying to use the mind push, or whatever I was doing to make Pam feel that tingling, may've been the final straw to open up a path for the electricity to flow."

Fingers traced the curves, which were both smoothe and pock-marked at the same time. "It probably melted somewhat, coming through the atmosphere before it hit. God knows how long it's been there," "Pam" said with fascination. "Imagine where it could've gotten these holes burned into it..."

"Yeah, yeah, don't go into a trance, Ralph. It's amazing, okay, we get it. Let's take that hunka space junk with us, and we'll figure out what we need to do next."

"Pam" grunted and picked up the meteorite, managing to go about half a foot before dropping it. "This sucker's HEAVY!"

"Here, let me," "Ralph" said, picking it up in one hand.

"Show off," "Pam" said, grinning. "Feels weird, doesn't it? You should try landing a space shuttle, Bill, or stopping a missile from launching."

"It's weird, Ralph, but now that I have the suit, sort of, I just want to get rid of the damned thing. Get you back in here where you belong. I think the green guys were right giving it to you after all," "Ralph" reluctantly admitted, as he put the meteorite in the trunk of the car.

"That's one for the ol' library," "Pam" chuckled, borrowing one of Bill's favorite phrases.

"Shut up, let's go."

The three piled into the Dodge, and "Ralph" turned to head back to town.

When they got back to the Hinkley house, with "Ralph" carrying the meteorite, he set it down on the coffee table.

The three stood there, staring at it, as if they were waiting for it to tell them what to do next.

"You know what we need to do next, Bill," "Pam" said.

"Do you honestly think I can SUMMON a precognition, Ralph?"

"I never could, they always seem to hit out of the blue. Like that lightning did."

"Bill" turned on the TV news. "Well, we've got a little help, courtesy of the National Weather Service. Let's watch this for the weather, and see if there're any storms expected tonight. I know in the middle of the country, April and May are tornado season. I think it's the stormy season for other parts of the country as well."

The announcer said, "And here's Greg to give us tonight's weather, and what we can expect tomorrow."

"Thanks, Rob. A line of thunderstorms is forming off the soutwest coast of L.A. tonight, moving in a north-northeast direction, for the city. We've already had two squall lines blow through today, from the coast to the desert. This is the time of year where the lines can form, tear through then dissipate in a matter of hours, and that's what we got earlier today. Some areas to the east had more rain today than they have in the last few months, so Spring has sprung, folks!"

"That's our clue, kids," "Ralph" said, standing up. "Let's head for the hills. I bet over by the Hollywood sign, they get a lot of lightning strikes."

"You think?" "Pam" asked, standing up.

Bill didn't say anything for a moment; he was staring at the turned-off TV set. As if mentioning the Hollywood hills did it, an image came to him. It was dark, with flashes of light every so often. To the left of the famous "Hollywod" sign, about fifty yards, a bolt of lightning struck some scrubby bushes.

He was so lost in the precognition that it felt as if he was THERE, and the shockwave of thunder hitting him made him yelp with alarm.

"What, Bill?" the two exclaimed.

"Whoa! That was close!"

"WHAT was close?" "Bill" demanded to know.

"Lightning!"

"You saw something?" "Pam" asked.

"Yes, it was dark. Must be tonight. Struck about 50 yards to the left of the sign!"

"Well, there's our ticket! You got the precognition without even trying, that's great, Bill!"

"I think the Counselor turning on the weather helped nail it home, Ralph." He looked at the watch Ralph always seemed to be wearing, even while in the suit. "I think we've got a coupla hours. Ralph, get me something to change into, to cover up the suit."

His best friend got up to go to the master bedroom, and "Ralph" yelled behind him, "And not that pink shirt you're always wearing!"

From the Journal of William Maxwell

April 2, 1985

It didn't occur to the three of us, till we got up into the hills, just exactly what we were planning. All we knew was that we wanted to get BACK where we belonged! I was safe in Ralph's suit, of course, but the other two... including MY own body! ...were about to be exposed to a very close and deadly bolt of lightning.

We knew we had a couple of hours to kill, at least, so we loaded up on burgers and cokes, and made a little sunset picnic. Parking up there's easy, but we had to hike down to the spot I'd seen in the precognition, and wait for the coming line of storms.

It was great watching the black clouds that Greg on the TV had forecast rolling in from the southwest. We really had the bird's-eye view! But then, Ralph realized, Waitaminnit... we're sitting here, WAITING for a bolt of lightning to hit us? Are we crazy?

"Bill, what if THIS time, it actually KILLS one of us? We were damned lucky to escape relatively unharmed earlier today. I mean, MY body will be safe, but your body, and Pam's too, could get killed."

"Hmmm, I know, kid. But think about it: do you two REALLY want to go through life like this, on the off-chance one of you may get killed tonight?"

"NO!" "Bill" said. "I already thought about that on the way up, and didn't want to mention it. I want to do this, get back to where I belong. Where WE belong! I want my HUSBAND back, Bill!"

"Yeah, and I want my Pam back where she's supposed to be. I mean, come ON, Bill, I'm married to this woman, and if she's stuck in YOUR body, well..." "Pam" chuckled.

"All right, we'll do this. Here, let's set the rock down. It was about six feet down from us, so maybe if we stand about that far away, it'll be just far enough so we're not -- at least YOU'RE not -- flat-out vaporized or something."

"Gee, thanks partner," "Pam" grumbled.

After the rock was set down in the location Bill remembered seeing struck, the three sat nearby to eat their food and sip their cokes. A rumble of thunder heralded the approaching storm.

"Okay, boys and girls, looks like we're in business."

"What do we do, just sit here and summon the lightning?" "Pam" asked with a grin.

"Let's wait a bit longer, till it's right over us. It was pretty dark in the vision I got."

They sat quietly, working on their dinner, nervously chewing and sipping as the lightning got closer and closer...

"Okay, it's time, kids," "Ralph" announced, setting the coke down. "Let's stand around the rock."

He went to it first, and turned to the other two.

"How do we arrange ourselves? So that whatever happens puts us back where we're supposed to be?" "Pam" asked.

"Let's see, earlier, you two were like this," and "Ralph" moved them into the same positions as before, when Pam and Ralph were holding hands. "I was like this."

"Ralph" moved to stand near them, and then said, "Now, let's reverse it. It went this way, me into Ralph, Ralph into Pam, Pam into me. Or whatever. I'll stand HERE, so when it happens, IF it happens, it'll reverse the order."

The three shuffled and rearranged themselves as "Ralph" directed, so when the effect happened, hopefully counterclockwise, it would put their psyches back into the appropriate bodies.

They stood about six feet away, hoping it was close enough to reverse the effect, but not so close as to get directly hit by the lightning.

"Bill" looked at the ground, and frowned.

"What, honey?" "Pam" asked.

"I know lightning will travel under ground, along roots and pipes. I was wondering if we might be standing over some tree roots. I don't think we are, there're only bushes nearby. I think we should be okay in that regard."

"Yeah, good thought, Counselor," "Ralph" said.

A crash of thunder made them gasp and look up. Although none of them was scared of thunderstorms, they still felt very exposed on this high hill overlooking the city.

"Remember," "Bill" said, "you'll feel the tingle, and the hairs on your arms and neck will stand on-end. That's a sign that you've got a couple of seconds before lightning hits."

"Oh, God," "Pam" said nervously, looking up at the dark clouds. With the sun down just moments before, the clouds had an eerie glow in the upper levels as they caught the dwindling rays in the upper atmosphere.

"We've got to be sure to hang on to one another, and not break the link. If we break the connection, we can't move to where we belong, and all this will have been for nothing!" "Bill" added.

"Look at those clouds, those are nasty!" "Pam" opined.

"Bill" looked up and grinned. "Those are nothing. At least we don't have green skies!"

"Green?" "Ralph" asked.

It was Pam's turn to lecture now. "Yes, that's one way to tell a tornado is on its way. The sky gets this sickly green tinge to it. Back home, we..."

Before she could continue, the tingling, hair raising sensation hit all three.

"Here we go, kids, DUCK!" "Ralph" yelled, all set to move between his best friends and the meteorite that they hoped would attract the bolt of lightning he'd seen earlier.

The blast of light and sound hit them again, but being prepared for it this time, it didn't seem as bad. "Ralph" held on to the others' hands, being conscious of the suit's power of strength and making an effort not to hang on TOO tight.

The three of them, linked together hand-in-hand, were blasted back as the lightning sought out the iron in the meteorite, grounding and shooting out along the little roots in the ground. Fortunately, the roots led AWAY from the three lying unconscious on the ground, not toward them.

They lay there for several minutes, not moving, barely breathing. As before, the touch of rain roused them, and Bill moaned, shaking his head.

"Oh brother, I've gotta lay off the bottle," he muttered, daring to lift his head. He was almost dreading opening his eyes, afraid he'd see HIMSELF once again, lying on the ground. He wanted to jump up and scream when he saw Pam and Ralph lying there.

"We did it, kids!" he wanted to yell, but all he managed was a hoarse whisper. He was close enough to grab Ralph's foot. "Kid, we did it! We're back where we belong! At least I am!"

He shook the foot, worried that his best friend hadn't responded yet. "Ralph? You with me, pard?"

An answering groan came from his younger partner. "Hmmm... shut up, Bill, I'm resting. I don't want to move. I don't think I CAN move!"

When his own voice came out, Ralph looked down at himself, stretched out on the ground. He yanked up his shirt sleeve, revealing a red-clad arm. "YES! We did it!"

He shook Pam's foot, and said, "Honey, I'm home!"

Bill laughed, and struggled to his feet. It felt good to be back in his own body, and he ran his hands down his favorite t-shirt, and felt under the vest for his firearm. Good, all was as it should be. He was glad the Counselor hadn't messed with it, or his ID and FBI badge that he felt comfortably secured in his back left jeans pocket.

Ralph also stood, and gently hefted Pam into his arms. "Honey? You there?"

"Hmmmm," she mumbled, opening her eyes to look up into her husband's blue shining eyes. "Ralph? Is that you in there?"

"None other!"

She ran her hand along his cheek, down to his jawline, and pulled herself up, kissing him squarely on the mouth. "I sure hope so, or else I just kissed Bill!"

"No such luck, Counselor!" Bill said, laughing and very pleased to see the Hinkleys together again, in their own bodies, as they should be. "For you, that is!"

From the Journal of William Maxwell

April 2, 1985

So we all managed to get back into our own bodies. It was a strange experience, no denying that, but it felt good, at least for a time, to be in the suit. I kinda wish I'd taken the chance to try other things in it, like flying, but we were too focused on getting back where we belonged. I got to use some of the suit, at least, like strength, holographing and precognition. And going invisible. That felt weird. I can tell now, at least a little bit, what Ralph must go through.

We kept the rock, as a memento if nothing else. Ralph brought it to his class, to study for science study. He thought it'd be a good chance to talk about geology, astronomy AND weather. He said he won't go into what else happened with that space junk, as I keep calling it, but he can mention how he saw it attract lightning!

Ralph started humming a song, and Pam laughed and sang along to it, some old hippie song I guess. "What a long, strange trip it's been."

Ain't that the truth.


End file.
